Welcome to the 2022 Fantasy Baseball Week 14 Drop List.
There's one week left until the MLB All-Star Game on July 19th. One thing's certain and it's that these players listed here have been anything but an all-star this season.
The featured player this week is the two-time all-star Max Muncy. Following him is a top prospect, Oneil Cruz. Lastly, Joe Barlow, A.J. Minter, and Will Smith are a trio of relief pitchers who have lost their closing roles.
Be sure to read the Week 14 Waiver Wire post!
2022 Fantasy Baseball Week 14 Drop List
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Max Muncy, 3B/2B/DH, Los Angeles Dodgers
Fantasy Baseball managers have waited long enough for Muncy's bat to come around this season but to no avail. He's slashing .162/.311/.311 with a below-average 23% strikeout rate and 85 wRC+. The strikeout rate isn't the most concerning thing either. It's the power. Muncy's power has been lacking and he is currently on pace to hit fewer than 20 home runs this season.
A lone positive from Muncy's season is his excellent 17.5% walk rate which ranks second among all qualified batters.
Is this enough to roster him though? The answer is no. Muncy has not been a top-15 player at his positions all season, making him unworthy of a spot in most Fantasy Baseball leagues.
Oneil Cruz, SS, Pittsburgh Pirates
This marks the second week in a row that an up-and-coming Pirates player has made the drop list. Last week it was Ke'Bryan Hayes and this week it is the top prospect, Cruz. Currently, on the season he is slashing .213/.241/.440 with an 85 wRC+.
Cruz makes the drop list after striking out in 27 of his 79 plate appearances for an awful 34% rate. On top of this, he has walked just three times for a low 3.8%. It's easy to watch Cruz and notice that when he hits the ball, he hits it hard, but he needs to start making more contact and cut the strikeout rate down.
Cruz has started with a first-pitch strike 54% of the time, putting him behind the pitcher quickly. This is a stat that is hard to recover from, once a player falls behind in the count their chance of reaching base is drastically reduced.
Joe Barlow, RP, Texas Rangers
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The Rangers have taken Barlow out of the closer role and will be moving to a committee. On the season Barlow has 13 saves and four blown saves with a 3.18 ERA. Barlow's roster percentage is currently 53% but is expected to lower as losing the closing job diminishes his value greatly.
A.J. Minter/Will Smith, RP, Atlanta Braves
The combo of Minter and Smith has filled in nicely for Kenley Jansen while he's been on the injured list. Jansen, however, is ready to return on July 12th and take the closer role back.
In Jansen's absence, both the relievers pitched well. They each recorded three saves and one hold while allowing just one earned run a piece. In leagues that count holds these two could still provide some value.
Performance Review
Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B, Pittsburgh Pirates
Hayes was having a poor week before he recorded a three-hit game on Sunday. In that game, he hit a double and a home run while scoring three runs and one RBI. In the six games before that he, however, recorded just two hits and scored one run.
Despite the outstanding showing on Sunday, it's been another disappointing week for Hayes, and he remains on the drop list.
Kyle Gibson, SP, Philadelphia Phillies
Gibson's one appearance this week came Saturday against the St. Louis Cardinals. In that game he pitched seven shutout innings, allowing just two hits while striking out four. This was Gibson's seventh quality start of the season and it brought his ERA down to 4.53.
Gibson's next start will come this Friday on the road against the Miami Marlins. Gibson played his way off the drop list with his performance against the Cardinals and should be started this week.
Mike Yastrzemski, OF, San Francisco Giants
Yastrzemski recorded just one hit this week, a lone triple on Sunday. He also struck out six times and didn't walk once. The Giants outfielder hurt Fantasy Baseball teams badly this week and provided hardly any production. It's still safe to drop Yastrzemski.
Mark Canha, OF, New York Mets
Canha had the best performance out of last week's drop list. He recorded seven hits, including two doubles, and scored four runs. Canha played a solid enough week to make it off the drop list.
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